<llje  (Testimony  of  ftttS,  ifje  spirit  of  JJropbccg 


A  SERMON 

PREACIIF.D  AT  THE   RE-OPENING 

OF    THE 

CHURCH    OF   AUGUSTUS 

(EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN), 


flftapjrc,  Itantgonurn  €u.f  |)ciutsntara, 


SEPTEMBER  5,  18G0. 


yy 


BY  WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS  MUHLENBERG, 

SENIOR  PA6TOB  OF  THE   CHURCH   OF  THE   HOLT  COMMUNION,    AND   PASTOR  AND   SUPERINTENDENT 

OF   ST.    LUKE'S   HOSPITAL,    NEW    YORK. 


ri'BLISnED  BY  REQUEST. 


NEW  YORK: 
ROBERT    CRAIGHEAD,    PRINTER. 

1861. 


RESTORATION 


OF    TIIE 


OLD  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  "CHURCH  OF  AUGUSTUS," 

AT    TRAPI'E,    MONTGOMERY    COUNTY,    PA. 

Ix  the  year  1851,  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Congregation  in  Pro- 
vidence township,  Montgomery  Co.,  Pa.,  then  worshipping  in  the 
old  "Church  of  Augustus,"  which  was  erected  in  1743,  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  Henry  Melchior  Muhlenberg,  D.D.,  resolved  to  erect 
a  new  and  more  commodious  church  edifice,  for  the  better  accom- 
modation of  the  large  and  constantly  increasing  congregation, 

Accordingly,  on  the  8th  day  of  August,  1852,  the  corner-stone  of  the 
new  building  was  laid  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  and  on  the  Cth 
day  of  November,  1853,  it  was  solemnly  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
Almighty  God.  liev.  J.  W.  Richards,  D.D.,  a  grandson  of  the  venerable 
Dr.  Muhlenberg,  officiated  at  the  laving  of  the  corner-stone,  and  Rev. 
John  C.  Baker,  D.D.,  assisted  by  Rev.  Dr.  Richards  and  Rev.  (I.  A. 
Wenzel  (Pastor  Loci),  performed  the  ceremonies  at  the  Consecration. 

After  the  dedication  and  opening  of  the  new  Sanctuary,  the  old  one 
was  no  longer  used  as  a  place  of  worship,  except  for  Sunday  School 
purposes,  the  commodious  new  edifice  being  much  better  adapted  to 
the  wants  of  the  congregation. 

Dr.  II.  II.  Muhlenberg,  of  Reading,  Pa.,  also  a  descendant  of  the  founder 
of  the  church,  at  the  time  the  old  church  was  about  being  vacated  by 
the  congregation,  generously  contributed  one  hundred  dollars  towards 
keeping  it  in  repair. 

In  the  spring  of  1859,  prior  to  the  annual  opening  of  the  Sundav 
School,  the  roof  and  ceiling  of  the  old  church  were  examined,  and 
found  to  be  in  BUCh  condition  as  to  render  the  occupancy  of  the 
building  unsafe  The  Sunday  School  was  then  transferred  to  the  new 
church. 

On  the  16th  of  February,  1800,  a  violent  storm  carried  away  a 
portion  of  the  roof,  and  left  the  walls  standing  in  a  very  exposed  and 


unsightly  condition.  Too  many  hallowed  associations  clustered  around 
the  venerable  pile,  to  allow  its  complete  destruction,  and  accordingly 
on  the  28th  of  February,  a  congregational  meeting  was  held  to  consult 
in  reference  to  its  condition.  There  being  a  diversity  of  opinion  as  to 
the  propriety  of  repairing  it,  and  thereby  increasing  the  debt  already 
incurred  in  the  building  of  the  new  edifice,  no  definite  action  was  had 
in  the  matter,  excepting  the  appointment  of  Committees  to  estimate 
the  cost  of  re-construction,  and  to  ascertain  the  probable  amount  of 
money  that  could  be  raised  for  that  object.  The  meeting  reassembled 
on  the  13th  of  March,  when,  after  hearing  the  reports  of  the  Com- 
mittees, it  was  resolved  "  That  the  whole  matter  of  repairing  the  old 
church  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  Executive  Committee  of  the 
friends  of  the  measure,  who  should  have  full  power  to  make  such 
repairs  as  they  deemed  proper,  being  careful  to  retain  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible the  original  external  appearance  of  the  building,  Provided,  the 
funds  be  collected  without  drawing  upon  the  Treasury  of  the  Con- 
gregation." Messrs.  S.  Gross  Fry,  Horace  Royer,  and  Rev.  G.  Sill, 
Pastor,  were  designated  as  the  Committee. 

The  success  of  the  Committee  in  obtaining  contributions  towards  the 
project  was  at  first  in  nowise  flattering.  After  addressing  a  number 
of  those  who  the  Committee  supposed  would  feel  a  common  interest 
in  preserving  the  Ancient  Temple  of  their  Fathers  from  the  destruction 
that  Avas  impending,  and  receiving  so  little  encouragement,  it  was 
feared  that  they  would  not  be  warranted  in  proceeding  with  the 
work. 

Finally,  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  Rev.  Wm,  Augustus  Muhlenberg, 
D.D.,  a  great-grandson  of  the  illustrious  patriarch,  at  present  the  Pas- 
tor of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Communion  (P.E.)  in  New  York  City, 
and  founder  of  St  Luke's  Hospital,  who  generously  replied  that  "he, 
through  his  sister,  Mrs.  Rogers,  and  other  members  of  the  family,  would 
gladly  extend  to  the  Committee  the  aid  desired  in  securing  the  vene- 
rable old  building  from  its  impending  ruin."  The  work  was  at  once 
commenced,  and  the  necessary  repairs  speedily  accomplished  ;  and  the 
venerable  structure,  having  renewed  her  strength,  again  stands  ready 
for  any  service  which  the  congregation  may  appoint  for  her,  and 
which  will  be  consistent  with  her  hallowed  history. 

The  Committee  deeming  it  proper  that  some  formal  exercises  should 
be  held  at  the  re-opening  of  the  old  church,  the  fifth  and  sixth  days  of 
September  were  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Muhlen- 


berg,  who  ha<l  so  cheerfully  responded  to  the  request  of  the  Committee, 
was  invited  to  be  present  and  deliver  the  lie-opening  address.  The 
invitation  was  accepted,  and  on  Wednesday  morning,  the  fifth  of  Sep- 
tember, the  excellent  and  appropriate  discourse  herein  contained  was 
delivered  by  Dr.  Muhlenberg  to  an  immense  congregation  from  the 
same  pulpit  filled  by  his  great-grandfather,  more  than  one  hundred 
years  ago. 

The  German  discourse  of  the  occasion  was  preached  from  the  same 
pulpit  on  the  morning  following,  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  Julius  Mann,  of 
Philadelphia,  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Synod.  Interesting 
exercises  were  held  also  in  the  evening,  Rev.  Jacob  Fry,  Pastor  of  the 
First  Lutheran  Church,  Carlisle,  Pa.  (who  is  from  this  congregation, 
and  was  confirmed  in  the  old  church),  delivered  an  address  preparatory 
to  the  re-opening  exercises  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  ;  and  on  the 
following  evening,  Rev.  E.  W.  Ilutter,  Pastor  of  St.  Matthew's  Lutheran 
Church  of  Philadelphia,  officiated.  Besides 'the  clergymen  already 
mentioned,  there  were  present  on  the  occasion,  Revs.  G.  F.  Miller, 
C.  A.  Baer,  J.  W.  llassler,  Win.  Weaver,  II.  Wendt  and  J.  F. 
Wampole  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Cruse  and  Rev.  Mr 
Millett,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Dechaut  and 
Kooken  of  the  German  Reformed  Church. 

A  brief  sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Church  was  read  by  the 
Pastor  (Rev.  Mr.  Sill)  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth,  a  copy  of  which 
is  also  contained  in  this  publication. 

By  the  Committee. 

S.  Gross  Fry,  Chairman. 


A    BRIEF    SKETCH 

OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  OLD  "  CHURCH  OF  AUGUSTUS." 

READ    TO    TIIE    CONGREGATION    ON  THE     HORNING    OK    SEI'TEMUER    5,  AS  PART 
OF    TIIE    EXERCISES,    BT    TIIE    PASTOR,    REV.     G.    SILL. 

Through  the  mercy  of  the  kind  providence  of  God,  we  are  permitted 
this  day  to  assemble  within  the  walls  of  this  ancient  and  venerable 
temple,  where  for  more  than  a  century  the  gospel  has  been  proclaimed, 
to  open  it  again  for  religious  worship.  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
many  present  on  this  occasion,  to  give  a  brief  historical  account  of 
the  church,  the  names  of  the  ministers,  when,  and  how  long  they 
served  as  pastors  of  the  congregation  worshipping  in  this  house. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  present  edifice  was  laid  on  the  second  day 
of  May,  a.i).  1743,  with  the  following  dedicatory  inscription  placed 
in  the  church  wall :  "Sub  remio-io  Christi  has  axles  Societati  Augus- 
tanoe  confess:  deditae  dedicates  ex  ipso  fundamento  exstruxit  Hcnricus 
Melchior  Muhlenberg,  una  cum  censoribus,  J.  N.  Crossmanno,  F. 
Marstellero,   A.   Ilcilmano,    J.   Muellero,    H.    Ilasio,   et    G.    Kcbnero 

A.I).    M.1M  C.XLIII." 

The  work  progressed  rapidly,  for  by  the  thirty-first  of  August  the 
building  was  under  roof,  and  the  congregation,  heretofore  worshipping 
in  a  barn,  moved  into  the  church,  and  for  the  first  time  held  service 
in  it  on  the  twelfth  day  of  September  of  the  same  year. 

It  was  determined  not  to  dedicate  the  church  until  entirely  finished, 
which  was  not  effected  until  a.d.  1745;  and  on  either  the  last  Sun- 
day in  September,  or  the  first  in  October,  of  the  same  year,  it  was 
solemnly  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  Triune  God. 

It\\:i>  regularly  occupied  lor  divine  service  until  the  autumn  of 
1853,  when  the  congregation  moved  into  the  large  and  commodious 
brick  church  erected  by  them  on  these  grounds.  From  that  time  up 
to  the  present  it  has  been  occupied  by  the  Sunday  School,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  two  last  years,  when  it  was  not  COnsidi  for  OCCU- 
pancy. 


8 

The  respective  ministers  who  officiated  in  this  church  from  its  com- 
mencement, were 

First.  Dr.  Henry  Melchior  Muhlenberg,  the  founder  of  the  church. 
He  commenced  his  labors  here  in  November,  1742,  and  continued 
until  October,  1761,  when  he  moved  with  his  family  to  Philadelphia. 

Second.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hartvvig  became  his  successor,  but  only 
remained  until  April,  1762. 

Third.  Rev.  Jacob  Van  Buskerk  took  charge  of  the  congregation 
in  May,  1762,  and  served  for  two  years,  when  he  dropped  this  and  con- 
tinued serving  the  other  congregation  (New  Hanover)  connected  with 
this  charge  for  one  year,  during  which  time  the  Trappe  congregation 
was  without  a  settled  minister. 

Fourth.  In  December,  1765,  the  Rev.  John  Ludwig  Voigt  became 
pastor,  and  continued  his  service  until  about  the  year  1798.  During 
his  ministry  in  this  church,  Dr.  Muhlenberg  moved  back  again  to  the 
Trappe  (viz.  in  1776),  where  he  remained  until  his  useful  and  eventful 
life  closed,  on  the  7th  day  of  October,  1787. 

Fifth.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Wei n land  succeeded  Mr.  Voigt,  in  1798,  and 
remained  pastor  of  the  congregation  until  1808,  when  he  was  removed 
from  his  labors  by  death. 

Sixth.  After  Mr.  Weinland's  death,  the  congregation  was  served 
for  several  months  as  a  supply  by  the  Rev.  Frederick  William  Geisen- 
hainer,  sen. 

Seventh.  The  next  pastor  chosen  by  the  congregation  was  in  the 
person  of  Rev.  John  P.  Ilecht,  who  entered  upon  his  duties  in  1808, 
and  continued  until  about  the  year  a.d.  1814. 

Eighth.  Next  was  elected  Rev.  Henry  Geisenhainer,  who  for  seve- 
ral years  dispensed  the  Word  of  Life,  from  April  15th,  1814,  when  he 
was  removed  from  time  to  eternity. 

Ninth.  In  April,  1821,  his  brother  Frederick  Wm.  Geisenhainer, 
sen.,  succeeded  him,  and 

Tenth.  In  1823,  Frederick  Wm.  Geisenhainer,  jr.,  son  of  the  former 
Frederick  William,  was  elected  his  successor,  who  officiated  until 
1827. 

Eleventh.  July,  1827,  Rev.  Jacob  Wampolc  became  pastor,  who 
faithfully  served  this  congregation  until  April,  1834,  when  the  pas- 
torate being  too  large  for  one  man,  was  divided,  and  he  taking  the 
part  lying  across  the  Schuylkill,  in  Chester  county,  relinquished  this 
part  of  the  charge. 


9 

Twelfth.  Rev.  J.  W.  Richards  was  chosen  in  May  of  the  same  year 
shepherd  of  tins  flock,  which  relation  he  sustained  for  two  years, 
when  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Gcrmantown. 

Thirteenth.  On  the  4th  of  April,  1880,  the  Rev.  Jacob  Wampole 

was  re-called  to  the  pastorship  of  this  congregation,  vacated  by  Rev. 
T.  W.  Kiclianls's  removal. 

He  was  not  permitted  to  labor  long  in  this  charge.  lie  closed  his 
labors  upon  earth,  and  entered  upon  the  reward  of  the  righteous  on 
the  third  day  of  January,  1838,  making  the  fourth  of  the  watchmen 
who  fell  at  their  post  of  duty  in  this  venerable  sanctuary  of  the  Most 
High. 

Fourteenth.  In  the  same  year  of  Mr.  Wampole' s  decease,  the  Rev. 
Henry  S.  Miller  was  chosen  by  the  congregation  as  his  successor,  who 
served  for  fourteen  years. 

Fifteenth.  In  August,  1852,  the  Rev.  G.  A.  Wenzel  entered  upon 
his  duties  as  pastor  of  this  church.  During  his  ministry,  the  new 
church  edifice  was  built,  and  with  him  closes  the  history  of  the 
ministers  who  here  officiated  as  pastors. 

And  now  to  the  good  and  blessed  object  for  which  it  has  been 
repaired  and  refitted,  let  it  solemnly  be  devoted,  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen. 


To 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER  IN  CHRIST,  AND  FOR  NEAR  HALF  A  CENTURY  A  FRIEND, 

CHRISTIAN'  FREDERICK  CRUSlL 

lit  ^Htmorti  of 

COUNTLESS     HOCUS     <>F     SWEET     CONVERSE     ON     "THINGS     PERTAINING     TO     THE     KINQDOM," 

AND    IS    TESTIMONY   OF   WISDOM    AND    LEARNING,    ALIKE   MEEK    AND    PEOFOCND, 

DISCLOSED     ONLY     IN    SUCH     HOURS, 

Zl)t  J'oIIc'ojiitg  Snmon  is  "affectionately  CnprnbrlJ. 

A.  M. 


SERMON. 

Revelation  XIX.   10. 

The  Testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  Spirit  of  prophecy. 

Among  the  various  feelings  of  this  occasion,  a  very  lively 
one,  I  am  sure,  is  a  grateful  approbation  of  the  pious  zeal 
which  has  not  suffered  this  venerable  sanctuary  to  become 
only  a  venerable  ruin.     They  to  whom  we  owe  it   deserve 
our  cordial  thanks.     By  many  it  would  have  been  thought 
a  needless  undertaking,  or  one,  at  most,  of  mere  sentiment; 
and  in   the  spirit  of  our  utilitarian  times,    these   deserted 
walls  might  have  been  left  to  the  ordinary  fate  of  the  use- 
less and  the  old.     The  winds  of  heaven  had  unroofed  them. 
It'  that  was  not  a  warrant,  it  might  have  served  as  an  excuse 
for   resiimin^   them  to    the  desolation   which  the   hand  of 
Providence  itself  had  already  begun.     But  you  desired  no 
excuse.     The  old  church  was  too  dear  and  hallowed  to  be  a 
church  no  more.    Consecrated  by  the  worship  of  your  fathers 
and  their  fathers'  fathers,  vocal  so  long  with  their  prayer 
and  praise,  yon   would  not  allow  it  to  moulder   in    decay, 
as  if  telling  the  decay  also  of  their  memories  in  your  hearts. 
The  storm  which  laid  bare  these  sacred  precincts  was  only 
your  summons  to   repair  their  wastes,  and   to   hand  them 
over  to  your  offspring  unspoiled,  to  be  still  reverenced  by 
them  as  one  of  the  first  monuments  of  their  ancestors'  faith 
and  piety  on  these  Western  shor*         1   was  glad  to  learn 


14 

your  intention,  and  to  aid  in  procuring  the  means  for  car- 
rying it  into  effect.  ~Ro  great  amount,  indeed,  was  required, 
as,  very  properly,  you  only  wanted  the  time-honored  struc- 
ture to  resume  its  original  plainness  and  simplicity  ;  yet  it 
has  been  a  work  of  genuine  devotion,  at  the  completion  of 
which  you  have  done  well  in  calling  us  together  to  rejoice 
with  you  in  opening  again  this  ancient  temple  of  the  Lord. 

Its  first  opening  was  in  the  beginning  of  this  same  month 
of  September,  one  hundred  and  seventeen  years  ago,  when 
the  congregation  left  the  barn  in  which  they  had  been  wor- 
shipping, and  held  their  first  service  here.  Since  then,  how 
many  assemblies  of  worshippers,  and  among  them  how 
many  whose  names  we  trace  in  our  family  Bibles,  have 
entered  and  passed  away  from  these  walls  I  AYhat  happy 
Sunday  gatherings  of  parents  and  children — children  in 
their  turn  becoming  parents,  and  bringing  their  children 
to  the  same  altar— generation  after  generation  of  families, 
whose  lineage  we  should  find  in  the  baptismal  records  of  the 
church.  During  that  period,  too,  what  changes  have  hap- 
pened in  the  history  of  the  country.  Could  a  representa- 
tive of  each  of  the  successive  generations  appear  before 
us,  and  tell  the  tale  of  his  times,  with  what  lively  annals 
should  we  be  entertained — what  interesting  stories  of 
character  and  anecdotes  of  our  sires,  justifying  our  reso- 
lution that  this  endeared  memento  of  them  shall  stand, 
both  for  the  church's  and  the  country's  sake.  Some  of  these 
reminiscences  you  might  expect  me  to  call  up  in  my  pre- 
sent discourse,  especially  those  relating  to  the  men  and 
things  of  this  old  sanctuary  in  its  earlier  days  ;  but  I  must 
leave  that  to  others  of  my  brethren  present,  better  furnished 
for  the  purpose  than  myself.  For  my  own  share  in  these 
services,  I  have  chosen  another,  but  not  an  irrelevant  theme 


15 

■ — one  not  alien  from  the  associations  of  this  church,  but 
intimately  belonging  i<>  the  most  sacred  of  those  associations 
— "The  Testimony  of  Jesus,  the  Spirit  of  prophecy."  For 
what  is  the  thought  which  imparts  the  highest  Bacrednesa  to 

this  place,  but  that  the  testimony  of  Jesus  lias  here  been 
proclaimed  for  more  than  a  century  of  years,  with  every 
opening  week  since  lie  first  stood  here,  who  Lore  that 
timony  in  his  words  and  deeds  alike.  A  true  prophet  of 
th(  -pel  was  he.  To  testify  of  Jesus,  and  win  souls  to 
Him,  was  what  brought  him  from  his  dear  fatherland,  to 
this  stramrer  and  then  almost  wilderness  land.  "We  are 
ambassadors  for  Christ,''  was  the  first  text  with  which  he 
opened  his  mouth.  What  a  faithful  ambassador  he  was, 
how  carefully  he  delivered  his  Sovereign's  instructions,  how 
affectionately  he  besought  his  hearers  to  be  reconciled  to 
God,  how  diligently  he  discharged  his  ministry,  with  what 
simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  publicly,  and  from  house  to 
house,  instant  in  season  ami  out  of  season,  and  how  largely 
the  Lord  gave  him  to  see  the  fruits  of  his  toil,  is  known  to  all 
acquainted  with  the  interesting  story  of  his  life,  and  may  be 
read  more  in  detail  in  the  printed  documents  of  the  day.* 
To  these  a  great  deal  might  be  added  from  the  early  histoiy 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this  country,  which  has  always 
acknowledged  him  as  her  founder.  Her  members  of  the 
;  'it  day,  nor   they   alone,   assent   to   his  epitaph  on  the 

marble   here — Qualis   et    quomtus  fuerit,  ■■■      la   fuiunu 

*  The  reports  which  he  made  of  ;  a,  in  his  journals  Bent  home  to  the 

i  at    Halle,  in  Germany.     It  was  in  honor  of  the  founder  of  tint 

^:on,  his  friend  and  patron,  A.UGU8TUS  HeRMANUS  FRANCKE,  that  lie  gave  thus, 

his  first   church,  the  name  Augustus.     One  of  the  f  the 

HaJUach  '     is  in  great  part  made  up  of  tfo  f  the  "  Missionary 

Muhlenberg." 


16 

sine  lapide,  non  ignorabunt — "  What  he  was,  posterity  with- 
out this  stone  will  know."  His  best  fame  is  that  which  will 
endure  beyond  the  posterity  of  earth — a  devoted  mis- 
sionary of  Christ — a  true  prophet  of  the  testimony.  For  a 
sermon,  then,  at  his  grave,  my  text  has  not  been  mischosen. 
I  have  taken  it,  however,  not  for  the  purpose  of  a  formal 
discussion  of  it,  but  only  as  a  basis  and  connecting  link  of 
what  I  shall  have  to  say. 

It  is  in  the  testimony  of  Jesus — that  is,  the  testimony  to 
Him — the  declaration  of  all  that  is  revealed  concerning: 
Him  ;  and  in  that  testimony  forming  the  spirit,  the  life, 
the  soul  of  prophesying  (using  the  word  in  its  comprehen- 
sive sense  of  preaching,  earnest  discoursing),  the  identity 
of  the  preacher's  office,  in  all  times  and  places,  consists. 
In  this  the  evangelist  of  to-day  is  one  with  the  prophets 
since  the  wTorld  began. 

The  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  spake  indeed  of  other 
things  ;  they  rehearsed  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires,  chiefly  the 
fortunes  of  Jerusalem,  as  manifesting  the  government  of  the 
One  Ruler  of  nations  ;  but,  amid  all,  and  as  the  supreme 
event  for  which  all  political  changes  and  national  revolutions 
were  preparing  the  way,  they  saw  the  advent  of  the  Lord's 
Anointed.  His  glory,  discerned  through  the  mists  of  inter- 
vening ages,  was  the  rapt  vision  of  their  sight,  His  name  the 
ecstasy  of  their  songs.  Thus  it  was  through  the  series  of  the 
greater  and  the  minor  prophets,  till,  after  a  lapse  of  centuries, 
during  which  no  inspired  sounds  were  heard,  the  archangel 
prophet  broke  the  silence  :  "  His  name  shall  be  called  Jesus, 
and  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end."  Then  came  the 
voice  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan — Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  ; 
and  that  followed  immediately  by  the  Prophet  of  prophets, 
prophesying  of  Himself,  speaking  as  never  man  spake,  and 


17 

then  handing  over  the  testimony  to  His  apostles,     u  Ye  shall 

be  witnesses  of  Me,"  were  His  last  parting  word-,  ki  in 
Jndea  and  Samaria,  and  to  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth,* 
Noble  witnesses  they  were  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  had  come 

upon  them,  and  given  them  the  tongues  of  fire  for  uttering 
the  testimony  in  words  of  light  ami  flame,  which  then  Hashed 
in  upon  men's  minds,  and  kindled  their  hearts  new-horn  with 
the  truth.  Of  their  preaching's,  that  was  the  one  and  never 
exhausted  text — Jesus,  the  Christ.  What  else  had  St.  Peter  to 
say  ?  he  who  once  faltered  in  the  testimony,  but  was  after- 
wards bold  as  a  lion  with  its  spirit.  Of  John  and  the 
others,  what  was  their  subject  and  ever-recurring  refrain  but 
the  Name  for  which  they  were  only  too  happy  to  sutler,  and 
by  their  Bcourgingi  and  dungeons  were  only  moved  to  tell 
out  more  clear.     Stephen  proclaims  it  in  the  synagogue  of  the 

*  The  witnessing  for  Christ  by  the  apostles  and  first  preachers,  among  people 
to  whom  they  lirst  made  llim  known,  would  consist  more  of  statements  of  the 
facts  of  His  litf.  and  of  His  person  and  offices,  than  is  qow  accessary  in  congre- 
gations familiar  with  the  gospel.  Still,  the  preaching  of  Christ  is,  in  all  ages,  sub- 
stantially tin-  same.  From  knowing  Him  historically  men  are  to  be  enlightened 
with  a  saving  knowledge  of  Him  by  faith,  in  order  to  which  He  is  continually  to 
be  set  before  them,  as  reveah  d  in  the  narratives  and  teachings  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. To  lead  men  to  behold  Jesus  Christ  in  Bis  tial  nature,  and  in  His 
relations  to  them,  and  in  theirs  to  Him,  is  the  great  object  of  the  Christian  preacher. 
This  never  fails  to  supply  him  with  a  boundless  variety  of  theme.  He  will  km 
how  to  make  each  of  his  sermons,  whether  declaratory,  doctrinal,  ethical,  or 
hortatory,  a  testimony  of  Jesus,  and  the  more  simply  and  directly  he  dees  that, 
the  mere  he  will  do  the  true  work  of  an  evangelist.  The  peculiar  work  of  tho 
preach  .  was  to  lay  broad  and  sure  the  historic  basis  of  Chi 
tianity.     Preachers  of  every  age  are  to  develop  the  unsearchable  rid  Christ, 

of  which  •  P  age  knows  more  and  more  unto  the  end. 

In  •  QOn,  by  the  testimony  of  Jesus.  I  understand   the  testimony  to  or  for 

Jesus.     It  may  also  mean  .;  timony;  the  testimony  which  He  declar 

of  the  Father  and  of  Himself,  the  whole  revelation  which  he  came  to  make — but 
this  is  included  in  all  right  testimony  (v  otfof  Him. 


18 

adversaries,  ceases  not  amid  the  shower  of  stones,  and  with 
his  last  breath  cries,  "  I  see  Jesus  standing  at  the  right  hand 
of  God."     The  storm  of  persecution  which  then  arose  was 
the    commission  of  those  who  fled  before  it,  to  go  every- 
where preaching  the   Christ.     And  Paul — Paul,  he  whom 
Jesus  chose  to  be  the  great  exponent  of  Himself,  to  be  a 
preacher  after  His  own  heart,  on  whom  was  concentrated 
more  than  all  the  gifts  of  the  rest  of  the  apostolic  college, 
what  His  testimony  to  His  Lord  was — how  he  bestowed 
upon  it  the  learning,  and  knowledge,  and  eloquence,  and 
reasoning,  which  would  have  made  him  great  on  any  other 
theme,  how  it  was  the  one  actuating  spirit  of  his  heart  and 
mind    and  soul ;   to    see   that   you   must   read   the   greater 
part  of  the  book  of  the  Acts,  and  his  Epistles  through  and 
through,   glowing    in   every  line  with   the   love  of  Christ 
constraining  Him,   knowing  nothing  but   Christ   and   Him 
crucified,  laboring  under  a  sense  of  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ,  "  counting  all  things  as  dross  for  the  excellency  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  His  Lord."     Their  testimony 
the  apostles  transmitted  to  their  successors  in  the  hosts  of 
evangelists,  bearing  it  to  every  part  of  the  world.    Wherever 
they  went,  whoever  were  their  hearers,  peasants  or  princes, 
of  whatever  nation,  kindred,  or  people,  or  tongue,  their  word 
was  one  and   the    same — salvation   through    the  Crucified. 
Their  converts  learned  that  first  and  last.     In   their  wor- 
shipping assemblies  we  read,  they  sang  hymns  to  Christ  as  to 
God.     In    their  persecutions   for  the  faith,    they   looked  to 
no  other   support  than  that  one  Name,  the  subject  of  their 
converse  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,  their  one  encourage- 
ment to  be  faithful  unto  death.     Martyrs,  you   know,  means 
witnesses — men    bearing    their    testimony.      Unchanged    it 
was  heard  from  amidst  the  flames.     Another   and  another 


19 

Stephen  of  the  noble  army  died  with  the  prayer — "  Lord 
Ji  jus,         ive  my  spirit."    That  Name  of  might  was  the  secret 

of  their  power,  as  the  moral  conquerors  of  the  world.  Immo- 
vable in  its  strength,  they  felt  themselves  the  LLosts  of  the 
Lord.  Their  enemies  joined  their  rank-.  The  Jerichos  of 
Heathendom  tell  before  the  blasts  of  their  trumpets,  and  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world,  in  an  outward  submission  to  the 
cross,  at  least,  became  the  kingdoms  of  God  and  of  His 
Christ.  Glorious  was  the  triumph  of  the  prophets,  mighty  the 
spirit  of  the  testimony,  when  from  its  first  whisper  in  Eden 
— "the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head' 
— it  persisted  until  it  was  heard  in  alleluias  to  Emmanuel 
through  the  empire  of  the  Gesars,  and  the  herald  of  the 
Galilean  planted  his  cross  on  the  summit  palace  of  the 
earth. 

Meanwhile,  however,  a  change  had  been  coming  over  the 
evangelic  office.  The  ministry  of  Jesus  did  not  continue, 
according  to  its  original  institution,  a  simple  ministry  of  the 
word.  Multitudes,  indeed,  there  were  still  of  the  primitive 
stamp,  witin  like  Paul  and  John  ;  and  these  were  from 

among  the  laity  as  well  as  the  clergy,  until  the  clerical  office 
proper,  or  the  clerical  order,  as  it  had  now  become,  gra- 
dually assumed  the  character  of  a  priesthood.  Christ's  minis- 
ters,  besides  being  evangelists,  pastors,  and  teachers,  also 
became  mediators  between  Bim  and  the  souls  of  men.  Not 
only  as  Hi-  ambassadors  did  they  announce  pardon  to  the 
penitent,  ami  point  out  t<>  him  the  way  of  salvation  ;  they 
now  began  to  dispense  pardon  ami  to  negotiate  salva- 
tion. They  held  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
claimed  to  bind  and  unloose  souls  in  a  way  of  which  we  read 

nothing  in  Peter  or  Paul.  Thus  their  office  acquired  an 
eccle.-ia-tical  worth,  but   l«»>r    in    proportion    its   evangelical 


20 

power.  As  the  night  of  the  middle  ages  set  in,  bringing 
with  it  a  return  to  Jewish  darkness,  less  and  less  was  heard 
of  the  pure  testimony  of  Jesus,  and  in  its  place  were  substi- 
tuted sacerdotal  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  sacrificial  services 
at  altars.  For  the  celebration  of  these  but  little  knowledge 
was  necessary.  The  priest  could  exercise  his  functions  and 
scarcely  know  a  page  of  Holy  Writ — might  be  an  adept  in 
his  craft,  yet  be  unable  to  read.  Among  the  Greeks,  as 
early  as  the  sixth  century,  preaching  wTas  all  but  extinct. 
It  was  much  the  same  with  the  Latins.  Among  the  latter, 
those  of  St.  Bernard  are  the  only  discourses  for  a  long 
period  ;  at  least  none  others  are  extant.  In  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, Charlemagne  assembled  all  the  learned  men  in  Europe 
to  revive  the  ministry  of  preaching.  Among  a  thousand 
priests  there  was  not  one  able  to  preach,  when  a  book  of 
Homilies  was  prepared  by  order  of  the  emperor,  from  which 
the  clergy  might  read  to  the  people.  Of  course  there  were 
exceptions.  In  the  monasteries  there  must  have  been  many 
a  holy  father  who  loved  the  precious  wrords  which  his  pen 
transcribed  in  the  manuscript  he  loved  to  adorn,  who  saw  his 
Saviour  in  the  crucifix,  and  spake  of  Him  to  his  brethren  of 
the  cell.  There  must  have  been  many  a  good  pastor  who 
fed  his  flock  as  he  could  amid  that  famine  of  the  "Word  ; 
for  God  had  then  his  elect,  whom  he  would  not  leave  to 
perish  for  lack  of  knowledge.  Amid  that  well-nigh  Egyp- 
tian darkness,  the  souls  in  His  Israel  had  light  in  their 
dwellings.  The  testimony  of  Jesus  could  not  wholly  be  sup- 
pressed. Here  and  there  a  prophet,  in  a  WicklifT,  a  Huss, 
and  others,  with  special  illumination  from  on  high,  spake  out. 
Still,  speaking  generally,  there  was  an  ignorance  of  every- 
thing concerning  the  way  of  salvation  but  the  power  of 
the   clergy  to   give    absolution.     The  poor  sinner,  troubled 


21 

in  conscience  »ught  peace  by  paying  hie  pence  at  the 
confessional,  not  knowing  that  lie  could  go  at  once  to  liis 
God  for  pardon  without  money  and  without  price.  Deep  and 
fearful  was  the  silence  of  the  testimony,  when  at  length,  after 
premonitory  notes  by  others,  it  came  ringing  loud  and  clear 
in  the  trumpet  tones  of  the  monk  of  Wittenberg.  God's  hero- 
prophet  arose  to  republish  the  gospel.  His  thunder-words 
of  truth  startled  men  into  audience,  and  broke  up  the  long 
night  of  the  Church.  "Let  there  be  light,"  the  decree  had 
come  from  on  high,  "and  there  was  light."  The  watchmen 
who  had  fallen  asleep,  woke  up  and  assured  by  their  great 
leader,  mounted  their  watch-towers  and  proclaimed  the  morn- 
ing. Songs  of  praise  ushered  in  the  day,  telling  how  glad  men 
were  to  hail  the  light  and  to  hear  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
again.  Once  more  the  Apostle  of  the  gentiles,  whose  doc- 
trines had  been  held  in  abeyance,  or  buried  under  the  rub- 
bish of  ecclesiastics,  was  heard  in  the  Apostle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. As  the  former,  with  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  had 
pierced  to  the  heart  the  old  Roman  wrorld;  so  the  latter, 
wielding  the  same  weapon,  struck  terror  into  the  second 
Rome,  and  set  the  captive  nations  free  from  her  chains,  even 
by  "  the  foolishness  of  preaching,"  Of  the  "  great  company  of 
preachers,"  then,  when  the  Lord  again  gave  the  Word,  to 
be  uttered  with  the  power  of  the  Lord,  Luther  was  the  fore- 
most. The  arch-evangelist  of  the  day,  he  did  more  than  any 
other  to  restore  the  Christian  ministry  to  its  primitive  office 
as  a  ministry  of  the  word.  As  he  had  struck  the  most  effec- 
tual blow  at  the  priesthood,  so  he  did  the  most  to  bring  back 
the  preacherhood.  .Nor  did  he  only  preach  and  argue  and 
write,  and  give  to  the  people  the  word  of  God  in  their 
mother  tongue,  in  that  noblest  of  all  the  modern  versions  of 
the  Bible,  next  to  our  own  ;    like  the  inspired  prophets  of 


22 

old,  lie  poured  out  his  prophesyings  also  in  song.  Gloriously 
did  he  sing  forth  his  Gospel,  according  the  hearts  of  the  mul- 
titude to  his  own,  in  choral  strains  speeding  on  the  truth  in 
bursts  of  harmony  over  the  land.  In  glowing  outpourings  of 
the  Gospel  muse,  the  testimony  of  Jesus  was  borne  with  new 
power  in  the  hymns  of  the  Reformation.  They  stirred  hearts 
then,  as  they  stir  them  still.  They  have  not  worn  out ;  mul- 
tiplied, in  age  after  age,  by  the  minstrels  of  a  nation  ever 
vocal  in  song,  full  of  the  richest  and  sweetest  thoughts  of  the 
love  of  God  in  Christ,  a  repository  of  pure  theology  in  melo- 
dious devotion,  they  are  the  peculiar  treasure  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  making  her  the  Choral  Church  of  Christendom. 
In  the  lapse  of  years  missionary  successors  of  the  Reforma- 
tion preachers  came  here  with  their  gospel  doctrines  and 
hymns.  Here  they  took  up  the  burden  of  their  prophesyings, 
the  ministers  in  their  sermons,  and  the  people  with  them  in 
their  songs.  With  this  as  a  central  point  they  gathered 
congregations  and  erected  churches ;  in  doing  which,  it  may 
be  well  in  these  days  to  say,  they  were  true  to  the  testimony 
as  maintained  in  the  old  standard  of  their  fathers.  They 
were  evangelical,  not  rationalizing,  half-sceptical  protestants. 
Geology  had  not  shed  its  bewildering  light.  And  that 
you,  my  brethren,  do  not  desire  to  walk  in  that  light,  I  take 
to  be  in  part  the  meaning  of  your  preserving  this  ancient 
pile.  You  declare  by  this  act,  that  you  adhere  to  the  creed 
of  your  patriarch  and  his  immediate  followers.  This  landmark 
which  they  set  you  say  shall  not  be  removed,  but  shall  stand 
as  a  witness  of  what  they  believed  and  taught,  and  is  received 
and  loved  by  their  children.  You  will  have  this  old  Augustus 
Church  still  to  stand  in  its  antique  form,  beside  your  new 
sanctuary  bearing  the  same  name,  to  remind  the  minister  and 
congregation,  that  the  old,  not  the  new  theology,  is  the  true 


23 

testimony  of  Jesus.  Therefore  the  more  cheerfully  do  I  unite 
in  this  celebration,  happy  thus  to  Bhow  myself  one  with  you 
in  tl;  reat  articles  of  the  faith,  in  which  your  communion, 

and  that  in  which  I  am  a  minister,  arc  entirely  agreed.  Our 
paration  is  not  in  that  of  doctrine.  Between  the  Church 
of  England  and  the  Lutheran  Church,  the  most  intimate 
relations  existed  ever  since  the  time  they  were  allies  in  their 
common  battle  against  Rome.  For  the  Last  half  century  or 
upwards,  from  various  causes,  there  has  been  more  mge- 
ment,  of  which,  however,  there  was  nothing  at  the  time  of 
the  first  Lutherans  and  Episcopalians  in  this  country.*    Their 

*  In  an  article.  by  Professor  Stoever.  in  the  ELvang  Review,  '  I   ttys  >urg, 

PeniL,  April.  1856,  there  are  the  following  sfc  :  — 

"I:.  :■'  R  -v.  I 

pal  Church,  Philadelphia,  present  at  the  Synodical  d  g  of  our  Churc] 

••  \\  a  ii.'  eting  of  tl     -        l  of  North  Carolina,  in  !.  a  committee 

of  the  :  palian  Church  was  in  attendance  for  the  purpose  of  i  on 

some  plan  by  which  friendly  re'..  a  intained  between  the  two 

Ch  y  Luthi  ran  □  ild  be 

entitled  to  a  Beat  in  the  I  J  Convention  Lina,  with  the  privi- 

_  i  all  subje  I  did  m  pal 

irch,  an  I 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Kunze,  an  eminent  theologian  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  Pro- 
nan  La  .  York,  in 

;oli 
of  the  inti  jlish  and  Lutl  which  he 

- : — M  1  ha 
of  divinity  for  my  church,  held  this  and  i  •  them,  an  i  It  was  ia 

al  Lutl  ry, 

k,  X.  V..  on  I  r,  L797, 

intiiii 
■  I  and  ■  and  tl  he 

their  church  <\ 
a  i:  ran  Church,  merely  Ei 

may  partake  i  i  of  the  said  J  'id 


mutual  friendly  attitude  appears  from  many  facts  that  might 
be  stated;  a  significant  one  is,  that  your  patriarch  was  pleased 
to  have  one  of  his  sons  in  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land.    From  private  family  tradition  I  could  say  much  of  his 
affection  for  the  English  Lutheran,  as  he  would  sometimes 
call  the  Episcopal  church.     When  Zion,  a  German  Lutheran 
church  in  Philadelphia,  was  consecrated  in   the  year  1769, 
"  on  the  second  day  of  the  solemnities,  the  services  were 
according  to  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  a  ser- 
mon was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Peters,  a  clergyman  of  that 
church.     Several  other  Episcopal  ministers  were  present  on 
the  occasion,  at  the  conclusion  of  which,  the  Pector  Muhlen- 
berg, who  had  delivered  the  sermon  on  the  first  day,  returned 
thanks  to  the  assembled  congregation,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
corporation  of  Zion  church  adverted  to  the  many  kind  proofs  of 
sympathy  they  had  received  during  the  three  years  in  which 
they  had  worshipped  in  a  building  belonging  to  the  Episcopa- 
lians, and  the  additional  gratification  they  had  just  experi- 
enced in  the  services  conducted  by  their  Episcopal  brethren." 
Between  Bishop  White,  the   patriarch  of  the   American 
Episcopal  Church,  and  your   patriarch — I  had  almost  said 
your  Bishop,  he  was  so  in  affection  and  influence,  if  not  in 
authority — there  existed  a  most  cordial  intimacy  which,  in 
my  younger  days,  I  often  heard  the  Bishop  refer  to,  repeating 
anecdotes  showing  the  Episcopal  sympathies  of  his  Lutheran 
friend  and  brother.     That  good  and  truly  great  man,  it  is  my 
privilege  to  say,  was  my  spiritual  father,  in  nearer  than  mere 
ecclesiastical  bonds.     Well  do  I  recollect  (you  will  pardon 
this  little  egotism)  the  smile  with  which  he  said  to  me,  after 

well  known  that  the  Society  of  the  Church  of  England  for  "  Propagating  the  Gos- 
pel in  foreign  parts,"  until  within  comparatively  recent  years,  often  employed 
Lutheran  missionaries,  without  requiring  from  them  Episcopal  ordination. 


20 

my  first  ordination  at  his  hands,  "The  Bhade  of  your  great- 
grandfather lias  not  frowned,  I  am  suit,  on  what  we  have 
done  to-day ;"  nor,  let  me  now  add,  does  the  sliade  of  my 

dear  spiritual  father  frown  upon  his  son,  in  a  Lutheran  pulpit 
to-day. 

Had  the  temper  and  spirit  of  moderation  of  those  good 
men  generally  prevailed  in  our  two  communions,  we 
should  have  found  some  way  of  coming  together  ere  this, 
instead  of  remaining  apart  as  we  now  do,  adding  to  the 
unhappy  divisions  of  the  Christian  world.  No  others  of  the 
reformed  bodies  ought  rather  to  be  one,  for  no  others  have 
so  much  in  common.  In  all  the  great  matters  of  the  testi- 
mony, we  are  one.  We  adhere  to  the  ancient  and  univer- 
sal creeds  often  found  in  your  old  Lutheran  bibles  as  well 
as  in  our  prayer-books.  AVe  have  the  same  theological 
doctrines,  seeing  that  your  Augsburg  Confession  was 
the  basis  of  our  XXXIX  Articles,  which  con  >n,  Bishop 

Bull,  one  of  the  great  lights  of  the  Church  of  England,  after 
stating  the  fact  that  our  articles  were  framed  on  it,  pro- 
nounces "the  noblest  symbol  of  the  Reformed  Churches." 
In  the  order-  of  the  ministry  we  differ,  though  there  we 
might  practically  agree,  were  your  ministry  constituted  as  it  is 
in  the  Lutheran  churches  of  some  of  the  northern  countries  of 
Europe.  A\re  both  have  the  spirit  of  ministerial  and  church 
order.  In  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  we  are  nearly 
alike,  and  in  their  doctrine  also,  as  il  is  now  received  by  the 
majorities  in  both  our  communions,  and  where  the  Bame 
diversities  of  views  on  the  subject  are  found;  high  and 
low  Churchmen,  high  and  low  Lutherans  tolerating  one 
another  in  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  faith.  We  both  have 
the  rite  of  confirmation  as  a  proper  complement  of  infant 
baptism.     With  us  it  is  administered  only  by  the  Bishop; 


26 

in  the  case,  however,  of  any  one  coming  into  our  Church,  who 
had  been  confirmed  by  a  Lutheran  clergyman, Bishop  White 
did  not  think  it  necessary  to  repeat  the  rite.  Together  we 
observe  the  seasons  of  the  church-year,  having  the  same 
round  of  gospels  and  epistles  for  the  Sundays,  festivals,  and 
fasts.  In  this  as  well  as  in  other  things,  our  liturgies  agree, 
both  having  been  derived  from  the  same  sources. 

True,  we  have  adhered  more  constantly  to  our  Liturgy — 
and  would  it  not  have  been  well  (allow  me  to  ask,  as  I  do  in 
the  most  brotherly  spirit)  if  you  also  had  adhered  more  con- 
stantly to  yours — not  to  the  exclusion  of  free  prayer,  but 
together  with  that,  according  to  the  practice  of  all  the 
continental  churches  long  after  the  .Reformation,  and  to  a 
great  extent  now,  as  also,  I  believe,  in  many  of  your 
congregations. 

It  is  not  simply  from  partiality  for  that  to  which  I  am 
accustomed,  that  I  think  a  scriptural  and  unchanging  service 
book  greatly  becomes  a  church,  adoring  her  unchanging 
Lord.  It  secures  the  uniformity  of  her  worship,  and  so  mani- 
fests its  unity  in  .all  her  congregations.  The  Liturgy  is  her 
perpetual  testimony  of  Jesus.*  It  is  a  living  creed,  which, 
more  than  any  dogmatic  formulas,  keeps  alive  the  truth  in 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  worshippers.  Generation  after 
generation  takes  it  up  unchanged.  The  Glorias  and  Lita- 
nies, uttered  by  our  remotest  ancestors,  we  repeat  to-day, 
confident  they  will  be  the  Glorias  and  Litanies  of  the  ages  to 
come — the  present  church  thus  symbolizing  and  feeling  her 
identity  with  the  future  and  the  past.  Never,  says  Mr. 
Cecil,  do  I  enter  one  of  our  old  cathedrals  without  being 

*  The  English  Liturgy  is  a  grand  witness  for  the  objective  faith  of  the  whole 
church,  while  the  Lutheran  Hymns  are  a  rich  expression  of  the  subjective  faiths 
of  individual  believers.     But  each,  of  course,  is  more  or  less  of  the  other. 


27 

deeply  impressed  with  the  thought, that  for  ages  these  vaults 
have  resounded  with  the  acclaim — Thou  art  the  King  of 
Glory,  O  Christ  ! 

Further,  let  me  express  my  conviction  (you  will  accord  me 
the  privil(  _  »f  years)  of  the  value  of  a  Liturgy  as  a  Bafe- 
guard  of  the  truth  and  a  protection  against  lapsing  into 
error.  Without  such  inclosure,  I  cannot  tell  how  far  I 
might  have  been  enticed  by  the  subtleties  of  German  ration- 
alistic criticism,  and  of  science  falsely  so-called,  during 
a  period  of  my  ministry,  peculiarly  exposed  to  such 
danger.  However  it  may  be  with  others,  I  feel  it  a 
subject  of  devout  gratitude  to  God  that  in  the  orderings  of 
His  providence  my  lot  has  been  cast  in  a  church,  where  I 
must  needs  confess  "  the  Faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints" 
— where  it  has  not  been  left  to  my  choice  whether  or  not  I 
should  make  the  catholic  ascription  of  glory  to  the  Father, 
and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost — where  it  has  not  been 
optional  with  me  or  my  congregation,  in  offering  our  prayers, 
to  plead  the  name  of  the  One  mediator  between  God  and 
man.  Thankful  am  I  that  it  did  not  rest  with  me  to  read  or 
imt  a-  I  pleased  a  set  portion  of  God's  Word  to  the  people. 
Blessed  constraint,  if  such  it  was,  that  whatever  was  the 
defect  of  my  own  discourses,  the  testimony  of  Jesus  was 
proclaimed  in  the  lessons,  the  psalms,  the  creeds,  and  the 
pray.  >   that  the  flock   never  went  away  unfed  with  the 

bread  of  life. 

In  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  not  mere  Episcopalian  ism 
t«>  maintain  that  in  venerating  our  Liturgy  we  have  done 
better    than   the  reformed  churches    which    have   laid   theirs 

aside.      That    cannot    be,    since,    in    all    their    important 

parts,  the    Liturgies  are   a   common  heritage  from    the  early 
church.     If  you  are   offended   by  any  among  us,  talking  ui 


28 

our  Te  Deum,  our  Gloria  in  excelsis,  you  should  excuse  the 
ignorance  occasioned  by  the  disuse  of  those  old  treasures, 
and  show  by  a  practical  appreciation  of  them  that  they  are 
yours  as  much  as  ours. 

Thus  we  see  there  are  many  considerations  which  should 
foster  our  sympathies  as  kindred  communions.  They  show  us 
how  nearly  we  approximate,  and  must  sometimes  prompt  the 
desire  that  we  might  go  on  from  proximity  to  union.  And 
why  not  union  ?  These  walls  of  division  between  us,  are 
certainly  nothing  desirable  in  themselves.  They  present  the 
church  in  her  outward  aspect  in  sad  contrast  to  her  interior 
and  real  unity.  For  a  while,  perhaps,  they  must  stand. 
The  time  for  their  removal  may  not  have  come.  If  it  be 
His  will,  the  Lord  will  bring  it  about  in  His  own  day.  In 
the  meanwhile,  our  distinctive  principles,  however  con- 
scientiously we  maintain  them,  need  be  no  barrier  to  a 
union  of  hearts.  For  no  reason  should  they  stand  in  the  way 
of  brotherly  love  and  mutual  good  will.  The  unity  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  bond  of  peace,  lie  deep  within,  and  beyond 
the  reach  of  outward  disturbance.  And  yet  can  there  be  no 
advance  towards  outward  union  ?  Can  there  not  be  some 
demonstration  of  our  oneness,  so  far  as  we  are  one,  which 
might  be  seen  and  known  of  all  men.  I  dare  to  think  there 
might.  We  are  united  in  the  testimony  of  Jesus.  We  of  the 
clergy  (it  is  the  clergy  who  must  be  foremost  in  any  efforts 
for  union)  are  one  as  prophets  of  that  Testimony.  It  is 
the  one  spirit  of  our  prophesyings.  In  other  wTords,  we  are 
all  preachers  of  the  gospel.  In  that  regard  our  office  is 
the  same.  Whether  Lutherans  or  Episcopalians  we  preach  the 
gospel,  and  we  have  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  the 
gospel  is.  We  are  equally  ambassadors  for  Christ,  praying 
men  for  His  sake  to  be  reconciled  to  God.     In  this  we  have 


20 

a  common  office ;  but  at  the  same  time  we  have  another  office, 
which  i>  not  common  to  us,  and  that  is  our  office  as  minis- 
ters of  <>ur  respective  churchi        Clirist-ward,  our  office  is 

the  Bame;   church-ward,  it  is  diverse.     A<   clergymen   we 

have  a  twofold  character — an  evangelical  and  ecclesiastical 
character.  It  is  in  the  former  character,  without  at  all 
entrenching  upon  the  latter,  that  we  might  make  mutual 
advances.  In  our  capacity  as  preachers,  we  might  recog- 
nise one  another,  not  merely  in  private  Bentiment  and 
feeling,  but  openly  and  officially.  AVhile  in  our  church 
capacity  we  can  minister  acceptably  only  to  our  own  con- 
gregations, what  should  hinder  our  appearing  before  one 
another's  congregations,  in  our  common  and  evangelical 
capacity  as  preachers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  Making 
this  distinction,  there  might  be  union,  so  far,  between  us, 
and  that  without  the  least  relinquishment,  on  either  side,  of 
any  principle  of  our  respective  communions.  Would  that  it 
might  be  brought  about  and  regulated  by  some  mutual  and 
formal  act  of  consent. 

But  I  am  not  here  to  propose  anything.  I  speak  with  no 
authority.  I  only  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  for  the  set- 
ting forth  of  views  which  of  late  years  have  been  very  clear  to 
my  mind,  and  which  seem  to  me  to  present  a  ground  of  union 
not  only  between  our  two  bodies  (who,  indeed,  should  be  the 
first  to  recognise  and  act  upon  it),  but  among  all  the  reformed 
churches  which  adhere  to  their  confessions.  Through  the 
preacherhood  let  them  exhibit  their  substantial  agreement. 
Let  their  variously  constituted  ministries,  government,  and 
order,  be  upheld  as  strictly  as  they  please,  while  that  which 
they  have  in  common  is  declared  with  equal  zeal.  Their 
specific  differentia  need  not  interfere  with  their  generic 
sameness;  only  in  asserting  the  species,  let  net  the  <j  be 


30 

ignored,  but  be  practically  proclaimed.  It  is  high  time  for 
such  a  demonstration.  Justice  to  ourselves,  to  the  gospel, 
to  the  glory  of  our  Lord,  demands  it.  Men  take  our  separa- 
tions as  signs  of  so  many  creeds.  Let  us  teach  them  better. 
Let  us  show  them  that  these  are  only  signs  of  so  many 
opinions  subordinate  to  the  one  creed — only  so  many  species 
of  one  genus.  Let  us  show  them  that  the  protestantism  of 
the  Reformation  is  not  just  the  aggregation  of  schisms 
denounced  by  Rome,  nor  of  discordant  superstitions  scorned 
by  infidelity.  Let  us  show  them  that  it  has  one  heart  and 
one  mind  in  all  things  requisite  to  salvation,  that  it  drops 
not  one  of  the  catholic  verities,  that  it  owns  one  Lord,  one 
Faith,  one  Baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  All — the  whole 
included  in  the  Testimony  of  Jesus. 

And  I  do  believe,  this  most  desirable  demonstration  would 
come  to  pass,  if  only  the  Testimony  were,  to  the  extent  in 
which  it  ought  to  be,  the  spirit  of  our  prophesyings.  It  is  in 
the  main,  but  it  should  be  vastly  more.  Here  we  are  lacking. 
Here  we  are  at  fault.  I  say  this  not  of  one  church  more 
than  of  another.  It  may  be  predicated  of  some  rather  than  of 
others,  but  it  attaches  in  different  degrees  to  us  all.  The 
reason  why  the  voice  of  a  united  preacherhood  might  not  be 
welcomed  in  all  our  pulpits,  is  that  the  great  truths  which  it 
would  proclaim — the  testimony  in  which  we  are  all  agreed — 
is  not  enough  the  theme  of  our  discoursings.  We  are  too 
fond  of  testifying  of  our  peculiar  doctrines,  our  favorite 
dogmas,  our  own  systems  and  institutions,  of  ourselves  dis- 
guised from  ourselves,  under.cover  of  zeal  for  the  truth.  In 
plainer  language,  we  all  have  too  much  of  the  spirit  of  sect. 
It  is  that  which,  far  more  than  we  are  aware,  stimulates  our 
zeal.  It  is  the  Trumpet  of  the  Lord,  which  we  fain  think 
we  are  so  glad  to  sound  or  to  hear — the  sweet,  silver  trum- 


31 

pets  of  the  blessed  gospel — aye,  bat  it  is  when  their  note 
have  the   Lutheran,  or  the  Episcopal,  or  the  Presbyterian 
tone,  that  they  have  their  highest  charm.     We  fondly  love 
our   own    theologic  or  ecclesiastic  melodies,  and    believing 

them  to  he  only  the  pure  music  of  Zion,  we  claim  that  all  the 
inhabitants  of  Zion  should  love  them  as  well.     It  is  natural 
— but  rather  carnal  than  spiritual — more  of  the  old  man  than 
the  new.     It  is  akin  to  the  spirit  of  the  Jews  in  Jeremiah 
days.     Each   pointing   to   his    own    ecclesiastical    structure, 
cries.  Like  them,  the  Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple  of  the 
Lord   are  these1.     See,  says  one,  the  glory  of  this  Temple  of 
ours — so  ancient,  so  grand  and  stately  without,  and  within. 
having  "  all  things  made  after  the  pattern  of  things  shown 
in  the  Mount."     See,  says  another,  our  beautiful  sanctuary, 
our  goodly  order,  our  sound  doctrine,  our  primitive  simpli- 
city.    But  mark,  cries  a  third,  how  God  blesses  our  ministra- 
tions— see  what  converts  we  make — and  what  holy  lives  our 
people  lead,     (to  round  about   our  Zion,  calls  another  and 
another,  mark  well   her  bulwarks  and    the  towers    thereof, 
and  say  whether  this  be  not  the  very  city  of  God."     No 
wonder  that  each  prophet,  contrary  to  the  proverb,  is  most 
popular  at  home  (men  always  loving  to  hear  themselves  be- 
praised)  ami  speaks  with  less  acceptance  abroad.     No  wonder, 
to..,  that  those  without  are   distracted  by  the  opposite  call-, 
"Lo  here,"   and   "  lo  there,"   and   bid    us  first  settle  among 

ourselves  which  is  the  Temple  of  the  Lord,  ere  we  are 
urgent  for  them  to  come  in.      Fee,   it   is  natural.      It  has 
always    been    s«».       "I    am    of    Paul — I    of    Apollos — ]    of 

Cephas,"  began  in  the  apostles'  time-.  It  was  the  bane  of 
the  churches  immediately  upon  the  reformation,  in  the  hot 
strifes  which  BO  unhappily  estranged  foremost  men  in  that 
gospel  revolution.      How  rife,  alas!   in  our  own  land,  I  need 


32 

not  say,  and  in  the  best  of  men.  Scarce  anywhere  does 
the  flame  of  religious  zeal  burn  vigorously,  but  with 
marked  alloy  of  this  earthly  fire.  "The  times  of  this 
ignorance  God  winked  at,  but  now  commandeth  his 
people  everywhere  to  repent,"  to  confess  the  sin  of  the 
bigotry,  the  sectarian  spirit,  and  narrow-heartedness  which 
have  made  such  havoc  in  the  household  of  faith,  to  turn  to 
Him,  and  seek,  not  their  glory,  but  His.  first  and  alone. 
Not  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  be  now  the  cry,  but  the  Lord 
of  the  temple,  the  Lord  of  all  the  temples  where  His 
name  is  proclaimed  and  adored.  Concordant  then  will  be 
the  voices  of  the  evangelists,  with  no  dissonance  of  party 
sounds,  and  welcomed  everywhere  in  Zion.  No  longer  will 
men  be  distracted  by  conflicting  testimony ;  for  when  we 
point  to  the  temple's  Lord,  we  shall  all  point  one  way — not, 
lo!  here,  or  lo  !  there,  but  to  Christ  all  and  in  all.  From  the 
goodly  fellowship  of  the  prophets,  now  again  in  these  latter 
days,  as  once  from  the  "  glorious  choir  of  the  apostles,"  will 
go  forth  clear  and  distinct  the  theme,  varied  in  endless 
descant  for  every  genius  and  every  character  of  mind,  yet 
unchanged — the  exhaustless  theme,  the  same  borne  on  "  the 
ages  all  along:"  Jesus  Christ,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever ;  Jesus  Christ,  the  root  and 
offspring  of  David,  the  Bright  and  Morning  Star ;  the  Only 
begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth  ;  the  Desire 
of  all  nations ;  the  First-born  among  many  brethren  ;  the 
Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith  ;  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop 
of  our  souls  ;  the  Lamb  of  God,  taking  away  the  sin  of  the 
world ;  the  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King ;  the  Lord  our  right- 
eousness ;  the  Crown  of  glory  and  Diadem  of  beauty  unto  His 
people  ;  the  Judge  of  the  quick  and  the  dead  ;  King  of  kings 
and   Lord  of  lords;   God  over   all,   blessed   for  evermore. 


32 


Oli,  in  this  chorus  of  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  lift  we  up, 
dear  brethren  of  every  name,  lift  we  up  our  voices  anew, 
acknowledging  and  affectioning  all  whom  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  attunes  to  its  strains,  joying  to  unite  with  them,  heart 
with  heart,  and  voice  with  voice,  pouring  forth  a  grander 
titan  the  harmony  of  tin-  spheres,  till  with  one  over- 
powering acclaim,  it  till  the  holy  church  throughout  the 
w«»rld,  charming  all  ear-  that  can  hear,  and  constraining 
everywhere  the  confession,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lobd,  to 

THE    GLORY    OF   (tod   THE   FATHER, 

With  the  love  of  Him,  and  with  love  to  one  another  in 
Kim,  may  our  hearts  be  knit  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Then,  whatever  outward  union  we  may  lack,  in  that 
heart  of  true  union  we  shall  he  one.  The  note-  of  our  dif- 
ference will  be  scarce  heard  in  the  blessed  concord.  Our 
partition  walls  will  sink  beneath  the  range  of  our  vision, 
as  we  look  up  towards  the  walls  of  the  city  on  the  ever- 
lasting hills.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Lord,  we  may  be  sure, 
is  constructing  that  kingdom  of  I  lis,  which  will  not  fail  to 
be  at  unity  with  itself:  whether  in  any  outward  Organization, 
in  a  happy  future  of  our  world,  we  cannot  foretell,  but  cer- 
tainly, in  His  temple  of  living  stones,  like  that  of  old,  reared 
without  the  sound  of  axe  or  hammer,  without  the  noise  of 
human  contrivance,  much  less  of  human  strife — that  Ever 
lasting  Temple  of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  corner-stone  elect 

and   precious.      On   that   foundation  may  we  he  budded.      In 

that  structure  may  we  be  Bet  among  the  living  st « »?  1  For 
that  lei  our  lives  now  be  a  living  testimony  of  Jesus, 
confessing  Mini,  presenting  our  s<»ul>  and  bodies  to  Ilim  a 
aving  sacrifice,  and  so  following  those  of  our  fathers,  who  in 

their  day  and  generation  bore  their  testimony  to  Ilim  within 

these  wall-.    They  have  passed  away  for  their  place-  within 

3 


34 

those  other  walls  which  never  waste,  of  crystal  and  gold,  and 
all  manner  of  precious  stones.  In  our  turn  we  shall  pass 
away.  Shall  it  be  to  our  places  with  them,  in  the  ISTew  Jeru- 
salem ?  Shall  it  be  to  join  our  voices  with  theirs  in  the  ever- 
lasting testimony  of  the  elect :  "  Unto  Him  that  hath  loved 
us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  own  blood,  be  all 
glory  and  dominion  evermore." 

So  grant  it,  O  Father,  for  the  sake  of  Thy  Son,  by  the 
Holy  Ghost :  to  Whom  be  glory,  as  it  was  in  the  beginning, 
is  now,  and  ever  shall  be,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

\The  Committee  who  requested  the  publication  of  the  Sermon  L     ■ 
knowledge  of  the  contents  of  this  Postscript,  which  may  or  map  not 
///..  I  their  approbation,     I  presume  on  their  indulgence,  in  attaching 
to  the  Sermon,  what  is  meant  more  particularly  for  members  of  my 
own  communion.] 

Knowing  that  many  of  my  Episcopal  brethren  will  have 
a  radical  objection  to  any  views  towards  union,  which 
acknowledge  men  as  preachers  who  are  without  Episcopal 
ordination,  1  have  thought  well  to  append  an  answer  to  this 
objection,  respectfully  submitted  to  their  consideration. 

There  is  no  instance  in  the  New  Testament  of  any  one  after 
the  apostles  being  ordained  to  preach  the  gospel.  The  apostles 
were  so  ordained  by  Christ,  but  it  nowhere  appears  that  they 
ordained  others — I  mean  as  preachers.  They  did  not  them- 
selves begin  to  preach  immediately  upon  their  commission  by 
Christ,  hut  waited,  according  to  His  command,  until  they  were 
endued  with  power  from  on  high.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost 
they  were  so  endued.  "  Cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire  sat 
upon  each  of  them,  and  they  began  t<>  speak  with  tongues  as 
the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance."  This,  however,  is  Baid  not  of 
the  twelve  alone,  hut  of  the  whole  assembly  of  whom  we  read 
immediately  before,  that  "  they  were  all  assembled  with  one 
accord  in  one  place."  On  each  of  that  company  of  disciples 
alighted  the  tongue  of  tire  ;  each  began  to  speak  as  the  Spirit 
gave  him  utterance.  Though  we  nerd  not  construe  the 
••  all"  bo  Btrictly,  yet  it  certainly  implies  that  more  than  the 

apostles  were  the  subjects   of  the    miracle.       A.8  they  "-pake 

of  the  wonderful  works  of  God,"  their  utterances  were,  pro- 
bably, as  Borne  think,  a  united  hurst  of  praise;     but  they 

must  have  been  more  or  less  also  of  the  nature  of  preachin. 
*  See   Baumgarten's  Apostolic   History,  and  the  former  p;irt  of  the 

work  generally  for  an  able  elucidation  of  the  main  poinl  here  d  id. 


36 

for  St.  Peter  immediately  proceeds  to  say  that  then  was  ful- 
filled the  prediction  of  the  prophet  Joel,  of  an  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit,  whereby  all  should  prophesy.*  Accordingly, 
on  Whitsunday  we  use  the  psalm  in  which  it  is  said, 
"The  Lord  gave  the  company  of  the  preachers."  Foremost 
among  them  were  the  apostles ;  but  soon  after  we  find 
Stephen  preaching,  to  which  we  have  no  account  of  his 
being  appointed  by  the  apostles.  He  was  one  of  the  seven 
set  by  them  over  the  daily  charitable  ministrations  of  the 
church,  in  order  that  they  might  be  relieved  from  serv- 
ing tables,  and  give  themselves  wholly  to  the  ministry 
of  the  word.  But  Stephen,  in  accepting  the  ministry 
of  the  table,  had  no  idea  of  laying  aside  the  ministry 
of  the  word,  which  he,  together  with  the  apostles,  had 
received  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  read  that  he  was  a  man 
"  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom,"  "  full  of  faith  and 
power,  and  that  he  did  great  wonders  and  miracles  among 
the  people ;"  and  further,  that  "  the  wisdom  and  the  Spirit 
with  which  he  spake,  his  adversaries  could  not  resist ;" 
and  we  know  how  he  preached  with  his  dying  breath. 
Thus,  the  first  martyr  appears  as  the  first  preacher  of  the 
gospel  after  the  apostles,  but  not  ordained  by  them — not 
commissioned  by  any  human  instrumentality — no  successor 
in  office  of  the  apostles.  The  only  office  which  they  gave 
him  was  one  which  they  declined  to  hold. 

Next  appears  (Acts  viii.  4)  another  great  company  of  preach- 
ers. Whence  did  they  get  their  commission?  In  the  persecu- 
tion which  began  with  the  murder  of  Stephen.  "Then  they 
that  were  scattered  abroad  went  everywhere  preaching  the 
word."  The  apostles  remained  in  Jerusalem  firm  at  their  posts 
amid  the  rising  violence,  feeling  that  if  their  cause  was  aban- 
doned there  all  hope  for  it  in  Judea  was  gone.  But  the  gospel 
could  not  be  confined  to  Jerusalem  ;  it  must  go  on  its  errand 

*  "Your  handmaidens  and  daughters  shall  prophesy,"  says  the  text.  But 
St.  Paul  suffers  not  a  woman  to  speak  in  the  church.  If  that  was  a  primitive 
canon,  the  sphere  of  the  female  prophetesses  or  preachers  might  have  been  their 
own  households,  or  on  other  occasions  than  public  assemblies  of  the  church. 


37 

to  "Samaria  and  the  ends  of  the  world."  And  who  should 
carry  it  thither  bul  they  who  had  been  charged  to  do  so  by 
the  Lord  himself  in  BEis  parting  words  to  them  \  But  th< 
as  yel  make  the  holy  city  the  bounds  of  their  mission.  What 
wider  missions  they  afterwards  entered  upon  we  arc  not 
informed  in  the  inspired  records,  bul  gather  only  from  tra- 
dition. In  the  meanwhile,  do  they  appoint  their  delegal 
for  carrying  the  word  beyond  Jerusalem  3  We  read  not  of 
it.  We  are  not  told  of  their  laying  their  hands  on  evan- 
lists,  as  they  had  done  on  the  ministers  of  the  table.  Evan- 
gelists were  already  made  in  men  who  knew  the  power  of 
the  gospel,  and  who,  from  the  abundance  of  the  heart  with 
which  the  mouth  Bpeaketh,  were  ready  when  the  occasion 
came  to  publish  it.  The  thunders  of  the  storm  which  drove 
them  from  Jerusalem  was  their  BUmmons  to  set  out  on  their 
w«>rk.  It  will  be  said  they  had  the  approbation  of  the 
apostles.  Undoubtedly  they  had — approbation,  of  course. 
We  cannot  imagine  these  missionaries  of  the  dispersion 
first  waiting  upon  the  twelve  for  leave,  while  they  were 
scattered  abroad,  to  go  "everywhere  preaching  the  word." 
Among  them  was  Philip,  who  had  been  ordained  to  the 
Bame  Bervice  as  Stephen,  and  who,  with  Stephen,  felt  that  he 
had  that  higher  service,  in  which  we  find  him  engaged  in  one 
of  the  chief  cities  of  Samaria,  the  region  in  which  the  Lord 
had  enjoined  His  apostles  to  be  His  witnesses.  There  Philip 
is  the  apostle,  there  lie  preaches  the  gospel,  makes  converts, 
baptize-,  and  causes  great  joy  in  the  city.  An  nnordained 
missionary  founds  the  church  in  Samaria.  Hearing  of  it, 
the  apostles  in  Jerusalem  sent  two  of  their  number  to  Biguii 
their  approval  of  Philip's  work,  and  especially  to  recognise 
the  new  convert.-,  by  exercising  their  apostolic  prerogative 
of  conferring  upon  them  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghosl  In  doing  this,  they  put  the   Samaritan  believers  on 

a  level   with  the   believers   in  Jerusalem,  and  so  declared 
them   fellow-members  of  one  church.     Philip  had   further 

*  Simon  could  nut  have  fthe  Eoly  til. 


38 

sanction  of  his  ministry  in  the  voice  of  an  angel  sending 
him  to  the  Ethiopian  nobleman,  to  whom  he  preaches  Christ, 
baptizes  him,  and  leaves  him  to  go  on  his  way  rejoicing  to 
his  home  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  then  known  world. 
There,  tradition  tells  us,  he  was  the  means  of  widely  diffus- 
ing the  gospel.  If  so,  it  was  not  in  virtue  of  any  laying  on 
of  hands  for  the  purpose.  Indeed,  for  no  purpose  were 
hands  laid  on  the  eunuch  after  his  baptism.  Neither  con- 
firmed nor  ordained,  his  knowing  Christ  was  his  warrant  for 
proclaiming  Him.  to  his  countrymen. 

From  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Acts,  we  find  that  some  of 
these  preachers  of  the  dispersion  had  gone  as  far  as  Antioch, 
where,  through  their  ministry,  a  great  number  believed  and 
turned  to  the  Lord.  Tidings  of  the  gospel  in  the  third  city 
of  the  Roman  empire  was  great  news  for  the  church  at 
Jerusalem,  where  the  twelve  still  tarried.  Forthwith  they 
despatch  a  brother  to  Antioch  with  their  salutations.  It  is 
not  one  of  their  own  number  that  goes,  and  with  apostolic 
powers,  to  ratify  the  new  church.  Barnabas,  the  Son  of 
Consolation,  we  may  imagine  was  eager  for  an  embassy  of 
fellowship  and  brotherly  love.  "When  he  came,  we  read  of 
his  performing  no  official  acts,  but  only  that  "  he  was  glad 
when  he  saw  the  grace  of  God,  and  exhorted  them  all 
that  with  purpose  of  heart  they  should  cleave  unto  the 
Lord."  Thinking  that  one  like  Paul  was  needed  for  such  a 
field  of  labor,  he  looked  him  up,  and  brought  him  to  Antioch, 
where  they  two  continued  a  year  in  building  up  the  church, 
the  members  of  which  were  first  called  Christians,  and  the 
foundations  of  which  were  laid  by  those  whom  we  should 
now  call,  missionary  laymen. 

The  theory,  then,  that  Christ,  at  His  ascension,  committed 
all  authority  to  preach  the  gospel  only  to  His  apostles,  and 
to  those  to  whom  they  formally  transmitted  that  authority, 
and  through  whom,  as  their  successors,  lie  would  be  with 
the  apostles  to  the  end  of  the  world — that  He  thus  established 
an  order  of  preachers  never  to  be  entered  by  any  outside 
of  such  a  transmitted  succession — cannot  be  maintained  in 


39 

view  .it*  such  facts  from   Scripture  as  those  just  adduced.     It 
is  at   variance,  too,  with  the  preaching  of  St.  Paul  himself. 
He  began  without  any  authority  from  the  twelve.     For  a 
while  they  did  not  even  know  him.     True,  lie  had  his  com- 
mission   immediately    from  the  Lord;  but  if   the    Lord  had 
established  a  fixed  and  indispensable  order  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  His  gospel   (as    is    contended),    why   was  not    Paul 
required  to  conform  to  it'     Of  the  fact  of  his  commission 
immediately  by  Christ,  no  one  had  any  evidence  hut  himself. 
Why  was  he  not  directed  to  go  to  Jerusalem  for  ordination 
by  the    twelve,  instead  of  being   only   sent  to  Ananias  (^of 
whom  we   read  nowhere   else;  for  baptism,  and  BO  be  recog- 
nised  by,  and  have  the  sanction  of  the  central  authority  of  the 
church.     So  far  from  that,  he  acted  quite  independently  of 
the  apostolic  college.     lie  had  very  little  connexion  with  it 
through  the  whole  of  his  ministry.     There  is  great    Bignifi- 
cance   in  the  "divine  irregularity,"  as  Dr.  SchafF  calls  it,  of 
St.  Paul's  mission.    He  gloried  that  he  had  received  his  ap< 
tleship  not  from  man,  but  from  God;  and  for  the  evidence  of 
it,  he  told  his  converts.  "  Ye  are  the  seals  of  mine  apostleship 
in  the  Lord." 

But  did  not  St.  Paul  himself  ordain  men  I  Yes — men 
to  be  Bishops  and  Elders.  The  twelve  ordained  the  seven, 
whom  we  call  deacons,  though  the  record  does  not  call 
them  so.  St.  James  seems  to  have  presided  in  the  first 
council,  and  probably  had  church  jurisdiction  in  Jerusa- 
lem. Everything  of  that  kind  which  we  read  of  in  the  A< 
and  Epistles  relates  to  the  matter  of  church  government, 
order,  discipline,  of  which  I  am  now  saying  nothing.  I  con- 
line  my>elf  to   the  .-ingle  point,  that  we  find  no  example-   in 

the  New  Testament  of  the  formal  investment  of  men,  after 

the  ap08tles,  with    the   office  of  preacher.'"'      Indeed,  it  could 

hardly  be  othcrwi  'Hie  preachers  of  the  New  Testament 
take  the  place  of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
these  latter  had  no  external  commission.     They  belonged 

*  The  laying  of  hands  on  Barnabas  and  Saul,   Act-,  xiii.  ;>,  was  at   their 

appointment  to  a  special  mission,  and  that  was  by  unurdaincd  men. 


40 

to  no  line  of  succession.  They  were  outside  of  the  priest- 
hood. "  Holy  men  of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Such  holy  men  could  not  have  ceased  with 
the  incoming  of  the  gospel,  under  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
given  more  abundantly.  We  read,  "  He  gave  first  apostles, 
secondarily  prophets."  Again,  the  church  is  "  built  on  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,"  that  is  the  apostles' 
and  prophets'  foundation  — that  on  which  they  built — hence 
these  must  be  prophets  of  the  evangelical,  not  of  the  legal 
dispensation.  In  the  apostolic  church  prophecy  was  one  of 
the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  which  had  been  largely 
bestowed  (according  to  St.  Peter's  interpretation  of  Joel,  to 
which  we  have  already  referred),  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
when  Moses's  wish  that  "  all  the  Lord's  people  were  pro- 
phets" was,  so  far  as  they  were  qualified,  fulfilled. 

All  this,  it  may  be  replied,  is  very  true,  but  no  argument 
can  thence  be  drawn  for  unordained  preachers  now.  Those 
times  were  original  and  peculiar.  The  church  was  just  coming 
into  being  ;  order  was  not  yet  established.  The  work  of  the 
church  was  not  yet  distributed.  The  elements  of,  but  not 
organization  itself  existed.  For  the  while  believers  generally 
might  be  preachers,  especially  when  the  Spirit  was  so  abound- 
ing, and  all  were  glowing  with  their  first  dove  impelling 
them  everywhere  to  tell  of  the  great  salvation.  Be  it  so,  I 
answer,  but  there  the  Scriptures  leave  us,  and  if  they  leave 
us  without  any  order  established  as  to  the  matter  in  question, 
then  for  no  subsequent  order  can  we  claim  scriptural  obli- 
gation or  precedent.  We  may  plead  antiquity  (though 
that  on  the  point  before  us  is  denied),  expediency,  eccle- 
siastical enactment,  but  not  divine  authority.  But  the 
church,  in  its*  earliest  stages,  was  not  without  order.  The 
community  of  believers  in  Jerusalem  maintained  its  fel- 
lowship with  the  apostles,  and  was  in  due  subordination  to 
them.  In  the  ordination  of  the  seven  there  was  an  instance 
of  formal  induction  into  office,  and  the  same  might,  and 
would  have  been  done  in  the  case  of  preachers  had  it  been 
deemed  necessary.     Seeing  it  was  not  done  we  conclude  it 


41 

was  n<>t  i  aary-  The  omission  Is  not  to  be  explained  by 
referring  it  to  a  comparatively  chaotic  Btate  of  the  Church. 
Ir  i>  one  of  the  proofs  that  the  apostles  did  aothing  to  restrict 
the  "  liberty  of  prophesying."  Their  example  is  precedent 
for  all  times. 

"The  ages  "t'  the  church,*  next  succeeding  the  apostL 
Bupport,  by  their  practice,  this  our  interpretation  of  the  New 
Testament.  A.monemen  aot  in  holy  orders  may  be  reckoned 
apologists,  theologians,  and  church  historians.  The  learned 
Origen  was  a  teacher  of  theology,  and  a  preacher  of  the  g< 
pel,  distinguished  for  his  success  in  making  converts,*)"  'at 
least  seven  years  before  he  could  be  ordained  deacon  by  the 
canons  of  the  church.'*):  lie  was  permitted  by  the  bishops 
of  Cesarea  and  Jerusalem  to  preach  publicly  in  their  pre- 
sence. And  lie  is  defended  on  this  ground  :  that  ,%  whenever 
there  are  found  those  qualified  to  benefit  the  brethren  they 
were  exhorted  to  address  the  people,^ — of  which  several 
instances  are  cited.  Laymen  also  became  successful  mission- 
arii  I   might   refer  to   the  practice  of  later  ages  of  the 

Church,  to  the  preaching  lay  orders  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  other  examples,  but  that  would  cany  us  ton  far. 

Returning  now  to  the  New  Testament,  the  prophesying  of 
those  times  was  inspired  preaching,  or  as  it  lias  been 
defined — "Discourse  flowing  from  the  impulse  and  reve- 
lation of  the  Spirit,  which  not  being  attached  to  any  par- 
ticular office  in  the  church,  but  improvised,  disclosed  the 
depth-  of  the  human  heart  and  of  the  divine  counsel,  and 
thus  was  exceedingly  effectual  for  the  exhorting:,  enlighten- 
Lng,  and  consoling  of  believer-.'"      Answering  to  these  v 

♦From  an  able  pamphlet,  entitled,  "  Lay  Co-operation :  a  Report  by  a  Com- 
mittee "f  tin-  Western  District  Missionary  Association  of  the  [Protestant  Ki>i>eo- 
pal  Choroh  in  .V  report,  in  the  principles  with  which  it  bcr 

its  argument,  i  with  my  postscript,  but  its  authors,  I  pn  -  ild  not  assent 

to  my  pi  inferences.     Their  object,  thou  silent,  is  a  different  one. 

f  Eue  EccL  Hist.     15.  vi.  c.  3. 

\  Bingham's  Origines  Bodes,     li.  iii.  c.  10,  sec 

s.  Busebius,  EccL  Hist     15.  vi.  c  19,  towards  the  end. 

||  Meyer  as  quoted  by  A 1  ford  on  1  Cor.  \ii.  10 


42 

have  prophesying  now  in  men  endowed  with  high  gifts  of 
nature  and  grace,  mighty  in  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  full  of 
zeal  for  truth  and  righteousness,  with  piercing  intelligence 
and  fervent  spirit,  speaking  effectually  to  men's  hearts  and 
consciences,  rightly  applying  the  divine  word  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times,  as  if  it  were  spoken  just  for  those  times, 
detecting  and  portraying  in  vivid  imagery  the  sins  of  nations 
and  individuals,  ever  prophesying  of  the  speedy  coming  of 
the  Lord. 

Such  are  the  successors  of  the  New  Testament  prophets. 
We  contend  for  successors  of  the  apostles,  why  not  of  the 
prophets  ?  not,  however,  of  any  ecclesiastical  lineage.  The 
laying  on  of  hands  has  nothing  to  do  in  making  them.*  They 
may  minister  as  pastors  and  teachers  in  their  respective  com- 
munions, but  in  their  higher  ministry  they  are  for  all  com- 
munions, and  so  should  be  received.  They  believe  they  are 
called  of  God  to  proclaim  His  word.  They  profess  that  as 
their  warrant  for  proclaiming  it.  Surely  if  they  are  so  called 
it  is  no  light  thing  not  to  acknowledge  them.  The  church 
which  disowns  them  as  prophets  of  the  Lord,  simply  because 
they  do  not  conform  to  her  peculiar  order,  does  so  to  her 
loss,  if  not  at  her  peril. 

But  how  shall  we  be  satisfied  that  men  are  called  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  ?  I  answer,  in  the  same  way  that  we  are  satis- 
fied of  it  in  regard  to  those  of  whom  it  is  required  in  order 
to  their  ordination  to  our  ministry.  We  accept  their  trust, 
their  own  persuasion  that  they  are  called,  provided  it  be  not 
contradicted  by  false  doctrine  or  ungodly  lives  on  their  part. 
So,  if  there  be  men  who  trust  that  they  are  called  to  preach 
Jesus  Christ,  and  who  do  truly  preach  Him,  whose  preach- 
ing God  blesses  by  making  it  the  means  of  saving  souls,  who 
lead  godly,  righteous,  and  sober  lives,  who  stand  the  Saviour's 
test,  "  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  who  can  appeal 
to  their  converts,  like  the  apostle,  for  the  seals  of  their  minis- 
try, I  see  not  how  we  can  shut  them  out  from  ever  appear- 

*  "We  nowhere  find  prophets  made  by  ordination." — Hooker.     E.  P.  v.  18.6. 


i:: 

ing  among  u<,  for  the  one  reason  of  their  lacking  episcopal 
ordei  sing,  as  [have  Bhown,"that  in  their  characters  as 

preachers  they  require  no  orders  at  all.    This,  indeed,  applies 

in  its  full  force  to  those  who  in  their  extraordinary  gifts  and 
evident  tokens  of  their  divine  mission,  have  the  Btamp  of 
prophets.  But  as  prophets  and  preachers  are  of  one  gem 
and  neither  depend  upon  ecclesiastical  commission,  all 
should  he  everywhere  recognised  and  welcomed,  so  far  as 
they  are  good  men  and  true,  ami  main  test  the  evangelical 
and  catholic  spirit  which  is  indispensable  to  the  profitable- 
ness of  their  ministry  among  Christians  at  large. 

These  views  Beem  to  me  so  radically  true,  that  I  am  loth 
to  think  there  is  any  positive  harrier  in  our  church  to  their 
acceptance.  She  ordains  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  hut 
none  -imply  a-  preachers.  What  then  becomes  of  men  who 
confess  to  no  call  to  he  bishops,  priests,  or  deacons, but  who  are 
right  -ure  that  they  are  called  to  he  preachers?  Shall  they  he 
told  that  they  dare  not  he  the  latter,  unless  they  are  one  or 
other  Mt"  the  former?  That  was  the  grand  mistake  which  the 
Church  of  England  made  with  the  Methodist  preachers.  She 
forgot  the  prophetical  oiHce  of  the  church.  She  did  not  own 
a  preacherhood. — The  preface  to  our  ordinal  forbids  the 
exercise  of  priestly  functions  to  anyone  not  having  episcopal 
ordination,  and  if  preaching  is  necessarily  a  priestly  function, 
then  no  man  may  preach  among  us  without  that  qualification. 
But  I  have  Bhown  that  it  is  cot.  It  might  seem,  indeed,  as  if 
the  Church  wholly  merged  the  prophetical  in  the  priestly  office, 
hut  that  we  cannot  suppose.  It  would  he  too  contrary  to 
ripture.  It  would  he  to  confine  the  Spirit's  git';  of  pro- 
phecy t<>  limit-,  to  the  like  of  which  it  never  has  been  con- 
fined. It  would  lie  to  sulfocate  divine  inspirations— I  had 
almost  said  to  Bmother  the  Holy  Spirit.  An  Apostle  has 
said,  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit,"  which,  it  is  remarkable  for 
our  purpose,  he  says  in  connexion  with  "Despise  nol  pro- 
phesyings."  The  church,  then,  not  meaning  wholly  to  merge 
the  prophetical  office  in  the  sacerdotal,  must  admit  its  exifi 
ence  outside  n['  her  ordained  ministry,  and  admitting  that. 


44 

she  cannot  forbid  its  exercise  within  her  pale.  On  the  whole, 
I  conclude  that  the  language  of  the  ordinal  is  irrelevant  to 
the  point  in  hand. 

"  He  gave  some  apostles,  some  prophets,  some  evangelists, 
and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry ' 
(Eph.  iv.  11,  12).  From  this  distribution  it  would  seem  that 
a  person  might  exercise  one  of  these  offices  and  none  of  the 
rest.  He  might  be  a  prophet  or  evangelist,  and  not  an  apostle 
or  pastor.  But  with  us  a  clergyman  is  expected  to  be  more  or 
less  of  all,  except  an  apostle.  Let  our  church  set  about  this 
distribution,  this  division  of  labor,  and  if  the  Holy  Ghost  be 
indeed  in  the  midst  of  her  dispensing  His  manifold  gifts,  and 
if  she  desires,  above  all  things,  rightly  to  use  the  dispensation 
of  the  gospel  committed  to  her,  she  will  find  among  her  mem- 
bers prophets,  evangelists,  preachers,  exhorters,  and  teachers, 
in  men  qualified  to  be  such,  and  yet  not  calculated  for,  nor 
desiring  admission  to,  the  ranks  of  her  regular  ministry.  Nor, 
if  the  Holy  Ghost  be  in  the  midst  of  her,  will  she  fail  to 
discern  prophets  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  communions  round 
about  her,  holding  a  faith  identical  with  her  own. — Discerning 
them  will  she  hold  no  fellowship  with  them  ?  Will  she 
refuse  to  let  her  people  hear  them  ?  Will  she  utterly  ignore 
them  ?  Rather  will  she  not  hail  them  as  co-workers  in  spread- 
ing the  gospel?  Will  she  not  show  that  she  discriminates 
between  them  and  others  preaching  in  the  name  of  Christ 
but  not  preaching  His  truth?  To  treat  all  prophets  beyond 
her  pale,  true  and  false,  alike  ;  to  regard  the  former  with  no 
more  favor  than  the  latter,  may  be  very  prudent,  but  hardly 
the  dictate  of  zeal  for  the  truth,  or  of  confidence  in  its  power 
for  good,  notwithstanding  some  admixture  of  error.  It  is 
well  to  protect  the  Gospel  by  our  canonical  inclosures,  but 
not  well  to  prevent  it,  on  its  free  course  around,  from  ever 
coming  within. 

~No  church  could  more  consistently  pursue  the  liberal  course 
here  pleaded  for,  than  one  which  is  so  truly  liberal  in  her 
spirit,  and  tolerates  every  variety  of  theological  sentiment  not 
at  variance  with  the  faith.     One,  too,  which  from  her  safe- 


45 

guards  for  the  truth  has  so  little  to  fear  from  contact  with 
her  neighbors.  "With  her  scriptural  liturgy,  at  once  her  wall 
of  defence,  and  touchstone  for  her  people  to  "  try  the 
spirits,"  what  damage  could  they  take  from  a  distasteful 
or  erroneous  expression  by  a  more  zealous  than  accurate 
preacher?  Should  her  Arminian  members  occasionally  hear 
a  Calvinistic  statement,  or   vice  versd,  what  more  would  it 

be  than  they  now  hear  from  her  own  preachers  divided  on 
those  theologies  8  As  an  ancient  branch  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  as  Evangelical  as  Catholic,  and  venerated  as  Buch  by 
her  Protestant  sisters,  may  >he  use  the  advantages  of  her 
acknowledged  position  among  them,  for  a  leading  pari  in  a 
joint  advancement  of  the  glory  of  her  Lord  and  theirs. 

I  conclude  with  answering  a  practical  objection  which 
it  is  easy  to  anticipate  :  "  Supposing  the  theory  true,  still  the 
acting  upon  ir  would  be  a  serious  evil  which  would  out- 
weigh any  possible  good.  Instead  oi'  listening  for  edification 
to  their  own  pastors,  people  would  be  on  the  look-out  fornew 
preachers.  'What  denomination  are  we  to  have  to-day  V 
would  be  the  question  on  going  to  church.  It  might  suit  the 
lovers  of  religious  dissipation,  but  not  grave  and  earnesl  wor- 
shipper.-.*' All  this  I  grant,  and  worse,  too,  mighl  follow, 
were  it  the  custom  for  preachers,  other  than  our  own,  to  offi- 
ciate at  our  regular  services.  But  it  is  not  that  which  is  pro- 
posed, nor  would  that  he  desirable.  Nothing  Bhould  inter- 
rupt each  communion  proceeding  with  its  staled  rites  and 
usages  in  its  <>wn  way.  The  object  is  not  to  do  away  their 
differences  which  consist  with  their  substantial  oneness.  Their 
several  priesthoods,  1  mean  their  ministries  celebrating  the 
Christian  rites  after  their  own  modes,  exhibit  their  diversity 

— their  owning  a  common  preacherhood  would  manifest  their 
unity,  and  their  manifestation  of  this  should  he  on  special 
occasions  tor  the  purpose,  and  not,  or  rarely,  on  the  ordinary 
occasions  of  public  worship.  The  preacher  would  then  address 
himself  to  a  congregation  who  had  come  to  hear  the  testi- 
mony from  his  mouth.  It"  he  delivered  it  in  a  right  spirit 
they  would  have  no  right  to  he  offended  at   any  peculiarity 


46 

lie  might  fall  into  of  theological  dialect.  It  enlarges  our 
capacity  for  the  truth  to  hear  its  notes  in  the  varied  tones 
which  it  takes  in  different  minds.  Congregations  of  the 
Testimony,  so  to  call  them,  might  meet  at  convenient  times, 
in  the  different  houses  of  worship  of  the  several  consenting 
communions.  And  why  not  in  our  own  ?  Why  might  not 
our  churches  be  opened,  at  other  times  than  those  of  their 
regular  services,  simply  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  not, 
indeed,  wholly  without  any  acts  of  devotion,  especially  such 
as  the  singing  of  hymns,  but  mainly  for  the  former  as  the 
great  object  in  view?  It  would  be  on  such  occasions,  when 
the  churches  should  be  free  and  open  to  all,  mission  churches 
for  the  time  being,  that  discourses  might  be  delivered,  ad 
popidum,  by  earnest  and  acceptable  preachers  of  other 
churches,  as  well  as  by  those  of  our  own,  at  the  invitation 
of  the  Rectors  of  the  respective  churches.  Surely  no  harm 
could  come  of  it,  while  the  great  good  would  be  done  of  show- 
ing that  underlying  our  church  affection  there  is  a  deep 
affection  for  the  truth  by  whomsoever  proclaimed,  and  that 
with  all  our  scrupulous  observance  of  church  order,  we  dare 
not  disown  the  higher  order  of  Him,  who  calls  whom  He 
wills  to  be  prophets  of  His  word.  There  would  thus  be  an 
advance,  I  have  proposed  nothing  more  than  an  advance, 
towards  union. *  If  even  for  that  we  are  not  ready,  may 
the  Lord,  if  it  be  for  His  glory,  hasten  it  in  His  time. 

W.  A.  K 

*  The  measure  proposed  in  the  "  Memorial"  for  a  free  extension  of  Episcopal 
orders,  looks  to  a  catholic  organization  of  the  Evangelical  churches,  and  is  advo- 
cated in  my  Exposition  of  that  document  on  the  ground  of  consistency  in  our 
church.  What  is  here  pleaded  for  is  independent  of  that,  and  might,  on  our 
part,  be  preparatory  to  it. 


